European Shares Hold Near Record Highs On Hormuz Reopening Hopes

(RTTNews) - European stocks hit new record highs on Thursday, with resilient company results, hopes for a U.S.-Iran deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and solid German data helping underpin sentiment.

German factory orders increased 3.1 percent on a monthly basis in June, faster than the revised 0.3 percent rise in May and economists' forecast of 0.5 percent, according to data from Destatis.

On a yearly basis, growth in new orders accelerated to 6.5 percent from 4.5 percent in May.

On the geopolitical front, Iran said it is in the final stages of drafting an agreement with Oman on new commercial shipping arrangements for the Strait of Hormuz, but denied the U.S. was involved in the negotiations.

The pan-European STOXX 600 rose half a percent to 660.17 after ending marginally higher on Wednesday.

The German DAX edged up 0.2 percent, France's CAC 40 surged 0.7 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was up 0.3 percent.

West-Asia focused oil & gas explorer Tullow Oil plunged 5.3 percent in London on concerns over the unchanged debt level.

Wizz Air tumbled 1 percent as the budget airline reported a bigger-than-expected quarterly net loss.

WPP shares skyrocketed 23 percent after the world's largest advertising group posted better-than-expected first-half profits and margins.

Homebuilder Persimmon advanced 4 percent. The company said it expects annual home deliveries to be at the top of its prior forecast range.

Outsourcing firm Serco soared 6 percent after reporting higher first-half underlying profit and increasing the size of its share buyback program.

German healthcare firm Fresenius advanced 1.6 percent after delivering strong second-quarter results and lifting its 2026 outlook.

SGL Carbon soared 5 percent. The maker of products from carbon reported a profit in its second quarter, compared to prior year's loss.

Lender Commerzbank rose 1.2 percent after reporting record performance across key financial metrics in its first-half 2026 results.

Nordex gained 2.5 percent. The wind turbine manufacturer said it has secured an order from Turkerler Holding to supply and install wind turbines with a total capacity of about 525 MW.

Chemical and consumer goods maker Henkel surged 4.6 percent after delivering strong first-half results and lifting its 2026 organic growth outlook.

Deutsche Telekom climbed nearly 6 percent. The phone carrier expanded its 2026 share buyback program by as much as €3 billion ($3.5 billion).

Industrial giant Siemens plummeted 5 percent after its profit outlook fell short of expectations.

Chemicals and pharmaceuticals group Merck gained 1.7 percent after lifting its full-year earnings and sales outlook.

Swiss telecoms group Swisscom surged 4.3 percent. The company confirmed its 2026 revenue forecast after reporting solid second-quarter results.

Staffing company Adecco shed 3 percent after posting disappointing gross margin and cash flow from operations in its second-quarter results.

Italy's Banco BPM rallied 5.3 percent after upgrading its 2026 profit outlook.